Cirrus@Austlit

'From the lean and terrifying days of the Depression in rural New South Wales to the exhilaration and excess of Australian boxing in the '60s and after, the life of boxer Keith Saunders has been extraordinary.

In this fast-paced, funny autobiography that includes some electrifying first-hand accounts of great Australian fights, we glimpse a little of the indulgent world that opened to a few successful boxers, the frustration felt by those Australians who endure racial indignities, and also some of the horror and tragedy of the boxing ring.

'Indigenous Australians have given us some of our greatest football champions. With names like Farmer, Winmar, Long, Rioli and Goodes, the stories of Indigenous footballers are some of the most compelling in the great game of AFL. The journey for some has been one of great struggle and difficulty. For them, football was the only way out.'

'What makes their stories so important? This set of biographies uses the players’ own descriptions of their lives, their careers and the people who helped them achieve success.

'An inspirational biography by Kevin Coombs of this extraordinarily positive Paralympian’s life.' (Source: em PRESS website)

'This biography tells the compelling story of an athlete who achieved remarkable success in two sports. During a long career as a sprinter, Marsh became known as the fastest man in Australia. Taking up cricket late in life, he rose to the New South Wales squad within a few weeks and was soon regarded as the most threatening and inventive bowler of his generation.'

'An illiterate boy, born in poverty, Marsh was a member of a people that was subjected to the harshest discrimination in its own homeland.

'He was the greatest footballer that I have ever seen and the best forward the game ever saw. And he was such a bloody good bloke ... a man of his word. I can't believe he's gone. The game has lost a great friend and a great man. Tommy Raudonikis

'The sudden death of rugby league giant Arthur Beetson OAM on 31 November 2011 unleashed a wave of emotion rarely before experienced in a game that has been labelled the most demanding on the planet. Hard men cried that day, among them some of the toughest characters that Australian sport has ever produced.

In this small biography Gary Ella notes that his job as Program Manager is to make sure there is Indigenous involvement in the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000. Ella notes in this work that 'in sport there's still not always a level playing field, but at least when people get on the field, they're there to compete on equal terms'. (Ella cited in Tweedie 2001:57-59)

'"I'm just a little black girl who can run fast, and here I am sitting in the Olympic stadium, with one hundred and twelve thousand people screaming my name. How the hell did I get here?"

Few of us will forget Cathy Freeman's gold-winning run at the Sydney Olympic Games. With the expectations of a nation on her shoulders, her victory that night confirmed her as a national hero. But the win was more than just a sporting triumph. In that euphoric moment, Cathy Freeman symbolised our best and broadest vision of ourselves, a reconciled Australia.

'Roo Glover has two highly desirable talents - he can fight, and he can run like the clappers. In the inner-city's harsh code there are losers and survivors, and Roo's a survivor. He's made it through adoption, through juvenile detention, through poverty. He's an athlete in training, aching towards the dream of Olympic qualification. He's even coping with being white in the turbulent Aboriginal family of his girlfriend. But when cousin Stanley dies in custody, and Roo finds his father the same week, trouble starts to catch up with him.

'After an exhilarating win against the Yuendumu Magpies, four Mt Allen football players become stranded when the team bus leaves without them. To get back home, they ‘borrow’ the rival team coach’s car. An hilarious high-octane car chase ensues as the Bush Mechanics are enlisted to catch the culprits. The episode concludes with a spectacular act of revenge when the abandoned car is found.' (Source:creativespirits website)

'Caught in a collision between the modern world of rap, football, street cred and the oldest living culture on earth, Lorrpu, Botj and Milika are three teenagers who once shared a childhood dream of becoming great hunters together. But things have changed and their paths are diverging. The film is about the search for identity, making the journey from adolescence to adulthood and the implications of belonging to a larger social group, whether it be culture, a family or a group of friends'.

Source : http://librariesaustralia.

The Fitzroy Stars was one of the first all Indigenous football clubs in the early 1970s. Many players went on to become leaders of the community and developed welfare and cultural organisations in Melbourne and across Victoria. After 14 years, the Fitzroy Stars football club has been resurrected and the old players reminisce on the importance of being a Fitzroy Star. It is more than game. (Source:Screen Australia website )

'Enrique 'Topo' Rodriguez played Rugby Union for Australia in the 1984 Grand Slam tour of the United Kingdom. He retired from playing rugby in 1987 and became extremely ill with depressive episodes lasting continuously for eight years before he was diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder.

'The play describes theatrically the 1984 tour, his coach Alan Jones and Mark Ella, an Aboriginal player who was happy to retire early at the end of the tour. On the other hand, Topo continued on with his career for several years.

'Eleven-year-old Dylan has to move from Mt Isa to Brisbane and he’s not happy. But as soon as he gets to Flatwater State School he finds a former Mount Isa Miner’s footy supporter in his principal and a ‘Broncos tragic’ as a teacher. He also makes a friend in Justice Jones and an enemy in Jared Knutz. Dylan is cursed with an abnormality transforming him into a fully-grown man whenever he gets angry. Always a worry, the ‘curse’ proves to be a blessing in the city when his alter ego attracts the interest of the Broncos during a class excursion to watch the team train.

'Get to know Preston, his family and the life of an elite rugby league footballer.' (Source: Publishers website)

'The story of a rather amazing boy who brings to reality his grandfather's dream of becoming a champion surfer. This is a story to show that anyone can do anything that they put their heart and mind to.' (Source: Black Ink Press website)

The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe is the untold story of Aboriginal involvement with the 'world game' in our nation's sporting history. The acceptance that Aboriginal players found within the post-World War II migrant communities had a profound impact on their lives... Interweaving personal stories and extensive research with links to the broader Indigenous world community, the book is a celebration of the extraordinary journey taken by Aboriginal sportsmen and women to forge the way ahead for the present talented players.

'Aborigines and the Sport of Kings celebrates the significant and exciting Aboriginal involvement in Australian racing history. A remarkable history considering That the Australian Aboriginal peoples first contact with the European animals caused them bewilderment and terror Because Massacres violent and unprovoked vicious attacks were Conducted from horseback. However, within a short period They adapted and shed Their fears. Over time They caught the horses and taught themeselves to ride, using sheets of bark as makeshift saddles.

'In 1995, Professor Colin Tatz and a panel of sportspeople and historians selected 129 athletes for the inaugural Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame. Since then, 43 new stars have been inducted. Black Gold features all 172 members, from 30 sports. The chapters showcase our Olympic heroes, superb sportswomen, football giants, boxing legends, lightning sprinters and more — from darts champions to world class weightlifters and woodchoppers.'

'Some of the people in this book are members of the Stolen Generations who were raised in ‘assimilation’ homes but pursued their dreams against all odds.

'The Indigenous game of marngrook and its claimed connection to Australian rules football has provoked unusually intense debate.1. Dismissed as ‘an emotional belief’, ‘falsifying history’, ‘lacking any intellectual credibility’—who could have imagined that the seemingly innocuous matter of an Indigenous game of football would meet with such invective.' (Introduction)